Anne Fadiman

Anne Fadiman is an essayist and reporter. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, her account of the crosscultural conflicts between a Hmong family and the American medical system, won a National Book Critics Circle Award. Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader, is a book about books (buying them, writing in their margins, and arguing with her husband on how to shelve them). At Large and At Small is a collection of essays on Coleridge, postal history, and ice cream, among other topics. Her essays and articles have appeared in Harper’s, The New Yorker, and The New York Times, among other publications. She is the only writer to have won National Magazine Awards for both reporting (on elderly suicide) and essays (on the multiple and often contradictory meanings of the American flag). Fadiman has also edited a literary quarterly, The American Scholar, and two essay anthologies. As Francis Writer in Residence, she teaches nonfiction writing and serves as a mentor to students who are considering careers in writing or editing.